


End of the Road

by pokemeg



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, CEDA (Left 4 Dead), Cussing, Dark Carnival, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hard Rain, Implied Relationships, Light Angst, Multi, Past Character Death, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Swamp Fever, The Parish, The Passing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:06:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24429946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pokemeg/pseuds/pokemeg
Summary: When the worlds at its end, you'd think there'd be no time for anything other than surviving. That's where Zoey would be proven wrong when she meets a young man from Georgia wearing a hat~AU where the original survivors merged with the second group at the end of The Passing. Relationship will primarily be focused on Zellis (Zoey x Ellis), with some background Nochelle (Nick x Rochelle)
Relationships: Ellis/Zoey (Left 4 Dead), Nick/Rochelle (Left 4 Dead)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Zoey couldn’t stop thinking about that awkward boy from the other side of the bridge. 

Sure, there were other things on her mind, such as that asshat who decided to be a sexist pig, and the impending chaos that was about to ensue, but that boy. Her heart fluttered at the thought.

Zoey, this isn’t the time to think about things like that 

Things had been rough since Bill sacrificed himself so that they could get away, which ended up getting Louis hurt. Their original plan had been postponed, at least for now, and they were looking for another idea. That’s what led them to right now.

She tuned out Francis and Louis’ bickering as she leaned back on the support beam of the bridge, her expression blank. She looked over to the side, staring longingly.

“Hey you made it!”

Louis’ cheerful comment made her snap out of her gaze. She didn’t even notice that they had appeared. Her eyes darted over to the four standing opposite; the supposed leader, the asshole that called her “cupcake”, the other woman who breathed a sigh of relief with her, and the aforementioned awkward boy.

She peered down on them from on top of the platform with her arms crossed, maintaining the image of a leader since the torch was forcefully passed down.

"Hey, didn't see you before, you okay?" the other woman asked.

"Got a little banged up, but I'm okay. Oh, I'm Louis, this here is Zoey and Francis" Louis said

"Hey." Zoey responded. Francis only responded with a simple nod.

She then peered down at the younger, awkward boy with the hat

“Where y’all headed?” 

“N’Orleans, wanna come with us? Hell, we can even leave Ellis behind to make room for y'all.” 

The younger man looked at him in disbelief.

Zoey looked over to the remaining two members of her group, giving them a look that said "it might be worth it"

Both Francis and Louis nodded in agreement.

"I don't see why not, safety in numbers"

"Alright, sounds good" the older man added

"Go on down and get started on that generator, we'll cover you from up here, we'll strategize what to do when the bridge is lowered" Louis finished.

~  
  


About five minutes later, the chaos began. 

The other group scavenged for gas cans while attracting hordes of the undead as well as multiple tanks, spitters, smokers and chargers, with some jockeys and hunters to spare. All while they covered the ground from their position on the bridge.

Their efforts paid off though.

The bridge had lowered and they could begin the next phase of their plan...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between the end of the passing and the beginning of Dark Carnival  
> Hope you enjoy~

"Bridge is down, go go go!"

Zoey hopped down from the balcony, just barely being able to not break her legs as she joined up with the other four survivors, while Francis went to go help Louis, still fresh with his injury.

A pipe bomb was thrown to distract the horde as Francis made his way down to ground level. That was when they made a mad dash for the stock car at the other side.  
"Come on people, get to the car!"  
~  
The plan to merge with the group worked, but just barely though.

It was hard getting Louis down to the opposite side of the bridge, not to mention the cramped space in the back of the stock car. Four was already enough, but seven? That was a different story altogether.

But soon enough, they were driving down the empty Georgia highways in search of a CEDA outpost.

Zoey was in the back seat, looking outside the tinted window at the setting night sky. Soft snoring occupied the cramped cabin and the only other sound was the static of the radio as well as the humming of the engine.

She wasn't tired enough to sleep, but at the same time, she felt the need to close her eyes for a little bit. The cramped space didn't bother her either, seeing as she was used to sleeping in tight corners. Even if Francis' body was taking up some of the space in the back.

"y' holding up back there, miss?"

She snapped out of her gaze once more, looking up to the front seat at the boy with the hat driving, supposedly named Ellis.

"y…yeah, just not tired"

"I get that, 's hard to do so, seeing as the whole worlds gone to shit. But y' really should rest, coz I don't know when the next on foot stop'll be." he expressed.

Zoey readjusted herself in her seat as much as she could, propping her elbow on her knee and resting her chin on her hand. "so… Ellis, right?"

"yes ma'am. An' I think I remember that Louis fella saying your name was Zoey?"

She only nodded in response.

"So what's your story? Where'd you meet these guys?" she inquired.

"Well it's kinda a funny story, y'see I was just…"

He went on to retell every detail that had happened prior to her group merging with his.

"Oh I see, you all tried to find an CEDA outpost in a mall in your hometown, didn't find one and left the place with this car."

"Yea, it was probably the best day of my life getting' to drive Jimmy Gibb's car" Ellis sighed.

"I bet" Zoey shifted in her seat a little more

"So, wha about you? Where ya from?"

She hesitated for a second.

"Really all you need to know is that we were up on that bridge for quite some time, we lost a good friend of ours trying to get up there. His name was Bill, I considered him my father." Zoey lamented.

"Well shit. He must've been a nice man if you thought of him as your dad. Sorry to hear that." Ellis sympathized.

"Thanks" she looked out the window once more, and the vehicle once again fell silent as she slowly drifted off.

She must've dozed off for quite a while.

"Piss" Ellis said under his breath. Shortly afterwards, the car stopped, waking up everyone in the vehicle.

Zoey snapped up from her spot, looking up to the front window.

She didn't like what she saw.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning of Dark Carnival (up to saferoom 1)  
> Bit of a longer chapter as i begin to start another semester of college in two weeks  
> Hope you enjoy~

"Aw damn"

They were stranded on the highway. Miles of cars parked ahead of them.

There was no way they were going to drive over this mess. Unless the car could fly or crush everything in its path.

"This… is not good" Francis remarked.

"Yeah, no shit" the asshole from earlier, who Zoey learned was named Nick, retorted.

"Oh so Mr. Fancy Suit agrees with me?"

"Go to hell, vest."

"Bite me"

"Ok boys, now's not the time" the other woman, Rochelle, scolded as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry guys, guess it wasn't such a hot idea after all" Ellis scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm sure it's going to be fine" Louis said, trying to make the younger male feel better

"Guess it's time to start walking" Zoey sighed.

They all began to grab whatever they could out of the cramped stock car to prepare to make their way to wherever they were to end up next. The feeling of walking from point A to Point B had escaped her ever since becoming glorified trolls who lived on a bridge. It wasn't something she was expecting to do again after losing Bill, but hey, shit happens, right?  
Zoey stopped once she saw a billboard advertising what looked to be either an amusement park or a traveling fair.

"Anyone know this place?" she pointed up at the sign.

"Hey, Whispering Oaks! Shit, I used to go there when I was a kid!" the older man, who goes by Coach, exclaimed.

"Oh good, now we can die there as adults"

"I hate amusement parks" Francis groaned his famous two word phrase beginner.

"Might be an evac there, why don't we check it out?" Louis shrugged.

Zoey sighed heavily, holding the rifle she had beforehand close by and holstering a fire axe.

And after that, they began to move forward on foot.

~~~  
Surprisingly, the highway was mostly clear, save for a few undead, as they made their way through the car infested overpass and walked off an offramp leading to a motel.

Zoey tried to take in her surroundings as best as she could, spotting a ferris wheel and searchlights off in the distance.

"So big guy; ya know your way around this place?" Francis asked the older man.

"Unless they changed everything while I was gone, then yeah, I know my way around"

Each step through the unsettling motel with a missing pathway was a step closer to their first checkpoint of many. But something was way off; there weren't many infected as she was used to. Maybe it was the geographical location?

She paid no mind to it as they made their way down the cliffside and hacked through some infected occupying the riverbank.

"Whispering Oaks! We made it!" the younger boy exclaimed.

Why weren't there that much infected?

"Okay, but this seems kinda off, shouldn't there be more zombies around here?" Zoey finally spoke up.

The group all turned to look at her as she scratched her head in confusion and leaned back on a nearby car that, unbeknownst to her, was about to trigger the security alarm.

The alarm sounded and the familiar roar of the horde was coming over from the west.

"Goddamnit!" she facepalmed herself.

"oh fuck… get ready!" Francis yelled.

The firearms got pulled out almost simultaneously as the horde approached and the bullets started raining down.

Suddenly, she couldn’t move as she felt something wrap around her arms and lower waist and pull her backwards.

"Hey guys? Need some help!!"

She closed her eyes as she tried to ignore the tightening pains in her chest, before being released and falling onto her hands and knees

A calloused hand reached out to help her stand up. Reluctantly, she took it and was helped up

"Thanks Ellis" she gasped, trying to catch her breath

"No problem miss" he replied.

The group then decided to retreat to the nearby safe room as the horde roared on, shutting the door behind them and beginning to shove anything heavy in front of it.

"All right, touchdown!" Coach roared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're safe... for now


End file.
